PHOTOJOURNALISM WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Always done part of my thinking photography, and consequently produce it as a unique piece every time I pull the shutter button of my photographic cameras, the artisanal form of doing it. I also think that my forefinger has the burden of all the responsibility for the final photo deciding if to act fast, or wait….wait….wait until the spot moment and, as a pointer dog, feel the right moment to press that magic button which if caressed carefully and resolute will bring that joy when capturing that precise moment from the wedding day.
Wedding photojournalism can give that rush as if we are all the time expecting moments that need, from my finger, that kind of decision. One of my great inspirations places in the cinema. But instead of staying attached to the frame for some action, I can change every photo and catch the same scene from many different points of view.
That is why each one must contain, from that piece of reality, all that is needed to tell the story with no more and no less, to be successful. Here I feel that artisan side of me, as a wedding photographer, with my body and soul delivering the best, that all my senses allowed me, to produce a unique photo.
You may say that it is not difficult because time, by its definition, does not aloud two things at the same time in the same space. So every photo I do is always unique. It is true by absolute reason but it is the relative one that matters to me, in this subject. Because I cover weddings I may say that they are almost the same. They all have the same structure, get ready, ceremony, party, couple session.
So we can expect that the wedding photographer can predict everything before happening. Maybe he can, but if he only uses that it can be his disgrace or his glory. If he knows how to use that to anticipate the small things, always be aware of everything that shows as different, the time looking at people and how they behave, finding everything he can use to “dress” and frame every photo, I believe he can, or I, achieve something out of the usual in this matter.
I call that being an artisan: the one who profits from his knowledge to do the best he can from his work. And the wedding photographer must do it the very fast he can, because time and space give him all the juice he needs, and he can not regret it if he does not profit the best from the situation.
Of course, at the end of the day, the final work had all the frustrations, and failing moments, that make me irritate myself with me and the gear, but it is also true that those uncompleted moments forced me to be aware of all the time and the approach during the wedding day will become more truthfully and honestly.
Sometimes I feel like the artisan is faced with a chunk of clay, a piece of furniture, or basketry. The lack of attention, and pressing the shutter button out of time is the same thing as choosing the wrong clay, the incorrect piece of wood, or the wrong color and glass shape if you are making stained glass.
Photographing at the moment, photojournalism has this merciless side to the one who does it. If we do not use the body, soul, and mind, at the same time and vibration, we can lose the best we can catch during the day, and, with that, fail the truth of what we are photographing.
But, as the ancients used to say if it does not burn does not heal, maybe this noble work, wedding photography, needs some pain to put us awake because, if we only do the work because we love it, we may become a bit foolish. Maybe this pain will make the artisan aware and be the spice needed for a good result.
